Hi fellow forumites, I am in need of your genius! I have four routes to get my MC off her starting blocks and up to confront the king (her father), but I'm not sure which one to go with. I want it to be driven by a core (negative) trait of hers, though right now I'm more concered about settling on a coherent plot sequence. Please advise... 1) Mc's mother dies MC finds letters outlining her mother's affair with the king/the fact she's her father MC has noone else to ask! Will go see him and find out main character traits driving this one being shock and stubbornness 2) MC follows her mother, overhears her talking with the king's champion Realises the king is supporting her mother as his mistress MC goes to look at king but winds up confronting him (the champion recognises her, enables her to get close enough to basically cause a stir) main traits = curiosity, short temper 3) MC beats up/gets beaten by nobles...again she wants to join army - needs sign of nobility [to train at the castle which is where she wants to be based] Mother is forced into confessing she'll need permission from the king - MC takes her mother's letter to the castle, gets referred to his champion and winds up meeting king main traits = proud, selfish 4) MC catches the king with her mother, shares weird "moment of clarity" with him MC is convinced he wants to talk to her/acknowledge her She goes to see King main traits = naive, wilful Thanks, Rach
If you where asking what I would do, then i'd go with the first, having a dead parent allows for quiet some range of future side-stories and stuff. If you asking me what you should do, I don't know the story nor the characters enough to give you an informed consent.... Or, if your asking which I prefer from an opinion point of view, then probably either 1 or 2. I would suggest, however, to sort out where you want to coherent plot to go, then start worrying about how to 'get the ball rolling'. Certainly I believe the plot, either main or not, will influence this, or provide an alternate answer.
I like number 4, the awkward moment - it strikes me as the most original. And it'd give you lots to play with, especially if you make the status gap between king and mum very large. On a different note, when I read this: I thought you were talking about Elvis, which added enormously to my enjoyment of the rest of your post.
1, 2 and 3 all sound kinda boring. Number 3 doesn't actually lead to a confrontation at all - seeing the king is not the same as confronting him about anything. 4 has the most drama and would definitely have me thinking, "WTF!? What's going on!?" The other 3 don't have this draw on me.
Thanks @Necronox. You're right, you can't say what I "should" do as you don't have access to the information in my brain, but I'm grateful for the opinions offered on the little I shared. Usually I agree with you that the plot would smooth out the issue but this will dictate a lot of what follows so needs sorting out up front. Haha, ah @Wayjor Frippery that's great. I'm not sure my book is half as interesting now I have the comparison of Taylor's father being Elvis Thanks for the opinion - it does offer lots of spinoff opportunities. Not sure on the originality front, I don't want to go down that rabbit hole lest I lose myself in it Appreciated nonetheless. I appreciate the feedback @Mckk. Obviously 1, 2 and 3 would boil down to delivery but in essence you're right, they're the simplest and most Vanilla of options. Ultimately, I want the most interesting and you've reminded me how an audience would feel about it so thanks! I need to remember that. I'm as yet unresolved but I'm going to give it a few more days before settling on an answer. I will bear all your comments and those of any future contributors in mind! Thanks again x
